‘Complex’ US-China Ties Can Veer Into Conflict If Not Managed Well: Jake Sullivan Ahead Of Biden-Xi Meet

US National Security Adviser Jake said that relation between US and China could veer into a conflict if not managed well, ahead of Joe Biden and Xi Jinping's meeting.

US President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet his Chinese counterpart on Wednesday

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The United State National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has said that the relationship between US and China could easily veer towards conflict if it is not managed well. Sulivan’s comment comes ahead of the much anticipated meeting US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Wednesday in San Francisco on the sidelines of the APEC Leadership meeting.

On Monday, Sullivan said that Biden and his team had the opportunity to engage in effective management of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. "Those are some of the issues that, through intense diplomacy, we have been able to manage," he said, according to a PTI report. 

"Then we will look for opportunities to actually generate affirmative outcomes that deliver tangible progress for the American people in areas where our interests overlap. I mentioned, for example, the issue of fentanyl.

"We're hoping to see some progress on that issue this coming week, and that could then open the door to further cooperation on other issues where we aren't just managing things, but we're actually delivering tangible results," Sullivan said. 

He also said that the most important thing is that "this is a complex and a competitive relationship that could easily veer into conflict or confrontation if it's not well managed".

"So, managing the relationship effectively is the single most important responsibility of the president and everyone who works for him on this file," Sullivan told reporters at a news conference in Washington. 

Sullivan highlighted that the US and China should have the ability to speak directly to one another on all of the critical issues that face our two countries, including issues in moments of crisis like the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

President Biden has had a number of candid conversations with President Xi about the question of military support to the Russian Federation in the conduct of its war in Ukraine," he said in response to a question.